Three takeaways from Hamilton’s Oct. 3 Planning Board meeting

Here are three things to note from the Hamilton Planning Board meeting on Oct. 5.

1: Parking lot at Patton Estate is a go

The board approved, through a 6-1 favorable vote, the Department of Public Works to alter an old stone wall near the edge of the Patton Homestead along Asbury Street to create a new parking lot.The board approved the gravel parking lot, which can hold around 43 vehicles, late last year. The lot will include a gravel driveway from the road and will be located at the front of the property, between the homestead and the Patton Ridge condominiums.The board had to give the final yea or nay before the wall could be changed as it’s located on Asbury Street, which is classified as a “historic scenic road” by the town.The DPW plans to work with a contractor to build the lot in the near future.

FOR MORE: http://wenham.wickedlocal.com/news/20170911/hamilton-planning-board-approves-patton-parking-lot

2: Great Estates bylaw at Special Town meeting

The board also voted to move the revised Great Estates bylaw onto the warrant for Special Town Meeting on Saturday, Nov. 4.The bylaw, discussed by the board for more than a year, essentially allows estate owners two options if they’re looking at changing the usage of their estate from single-family mansions to either a new residential usage or commercial operation based upon their willingness to maintain the historical character of the estate.If they undergo a “culturally significant historic rehabilitation,” essentially keeping historically relevant parts of the building intact and up to code, they can create new construction up to two times the floor area of existing buildings.If they cannot or do not maintain the historical character, they’re limited to the existing floor area of their buildings.The other bylaw under consideration by the board, which would permit higher density “cottage housing” in town, will continue discussion at the board’s next meeting later this month.

FOR MORE: http://hamilton.wickedlocal.com/news/20170927/proposed-hamilton-estate-bylaw-limits-size-expands-commercial-usage

Planning Board Chairman Brian Stein said the Board of Selectmen will discuss the lawsuit between Varsity Wireless, a cell tower builder, and the town against the Planning Board over the board’s vote to reject a proposed cell tower to be built by Varisty Wireless in the town’s DPW yard.

FOR MORE: http://hamilton.wickedlocal.com/news/20170803/cell-tower-proposal-collapses-with-planning-board-vote